Dr. Rebecca H. Bauer

B.S., Weber State University, 2013;
M.A., University of North Carolina-Wilmington, 2016;
Ph.D., University of Alabama, 2022.

Research Interests:

In Any Age Group: Creativity, Imagination, Executive Functioning, Emotion Regulation, Aesthetic Experiences, Figurative Language

In Children: Pretend Play, Cognitive Development (Executive functions, language, conceptual development), Socioemotional Development (Prosocial behavior, empathy, theory of mind), School Readiness, Early Childhood Education

Research Topics:

What fosters the development of creativity? How can we best measure creativity? Why are some people more creative than others? What skills aid in creativity? How does imagination positively impact other skills (cognitive or socioemotional)? Does pretend play foster school readiness skills?

Bauer, R. H., Gilpin, A. T., Thibodeau-Nielsen, R., Palermo, F., & White, R. (2025). The Creativity in Play Scale: Examining the role of imagination and self-regulation in naturalistic play ratings of creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000783

Bauer, R. H., & Gilpin, A. T. (2023). Creativity in early childhood: How do imagination and self-regulation predict creativity in a story-stem task? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000620

Bauer, R. H., & Gilpin, A. T. (2023). Imaginative children in the classroom: Mixed-methods examining teacher reported behavior, play observations and child assessments. Early Education and Development, 34(2), 449-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2021.2024111  

Bauer, R. H., Gilpin, A. T., & Thibodeau-Nielsen, R. B. (2021). Executive Functions and Imaginative Play: Exploring Relations with Prosocial Behaviors using Structural Equation Modeling. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 25(December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2021.100165